1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a griller, more particularly to a griller having a temperature sensing device with a timed alarm capability.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional meat griller has a pair of cooking grill members are configured to confine a cooking space for receiving a piece of steak therein when the cooking grill members are closed together. When electric power is supplied to electric heaters of the cooking grill members, the temperature in the cooking space will rise to a preset cooking temperature and will be maintained thereat for cooking the steak piece.
A main drawback of the aforesaid conventional meat griller resides in that the user has to monitor the cooking time so that the steak piece can be cooked as desired.
Another conventional griller is provided with a separable temperature sensing device which can be used to detect the temperature of the cooking grill members or to pierce th steak piece in the cooking space for detecting the temperature of the steak piece. It is desirable to modify the conventional temperature sensing device by providing the same with a timed alarm capability.
Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a griller having a temperature sensing device with a timed alarm capability.
Accordingly, the griller of this invention comprises upper and lower cooking members, and a temperature sensing device.
The upper and lower cooking grill members are coupled to each other, and are configured to confine a cooking space when closed together. One of the upper and lower cooking grill members includes a housing, and a grill plate that is mounted on the housing and that forms one side of the cooking space. The housing has a rim portion formed with a cavity. The cavity has an open insert side, an open viewing side, and an end wall opposite to the open insert side. The end wall is formed with a probe hole to permit access to an interior of the housing proximate to the grill plate.
The temperature sensing device includes a casing, a temperature sensing probe, a user input unit, a processor unit, a display unit, and an alarm unit. The casing is received in the cavity, and is removable from the cavity through the open insert side. The casing has an operating side accessible from the open viewing side when the casing is disposed in the cavity. The temperature sensing probe has a mounting section connected to the casing, and a sensing section extendible into the housing through the probe hole when the casing is disposed in the cavity. The temperature sensing probe generates a sensor output corresponding to a cooking temperature detected thereby. The user input unit is mounted on the operating side of the casing, and is operable so as to provide a cooking time setting. The processor unit is mounted in the casing, and is connected to the temperature sensing probe and the user input unit for receiving the sensor output and the cooking time setting therefrom. The processor unit is operable in a timer mode, wherein the processor unit generates an alarm activate signal upon detection by the processor unit that a predetermined time period corresponding to the cooking time setting has elapsed. The display unit is mounted on the operating side of the casing, and is connected to and controlled by the processor unit so as to provide a visual indication of the cooking temperature detected by the temperature sensing probe and the cooking time setting provided by the user input unit. The alarm unit is mounted in the casing, is connected to the processor unit, and is activated by the alarm activate signal for generating an alarm output.